Kinesthetic Sympathy

Kinesthetic Sympathy - The state of having an emotional attachment to an object when it is in hand which one did not have when it was out of sight.

Like many families during the holiday, we bought a decorated a tree. We went to the tree lot and picked out just the right one for us. One that was properly full, not too tall, not too shaggy, and we brought it home. We decorated it, people congregated around it at our holiday party and we put presents under it for Christmas morning.

The Christmas tree, a very specific symbol of the holiday takes on a presence within the household and to an extent, becomes part of the family. The process of selection and adorning with varied cherished ornaments allows us to project our memories and emotions onto it, developing de facto feelings via nostalgia. After ringing in the new year, this thing that was once living is cut down in it’s infancy and brought home for the most selfish of purposes, is left on the street to be taken away. Bagged, with tinsel and flocking still on them, they are left dejected and devoid of the love we once projected on to it.